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Hoffmann, Zsuzsa

Ways of the World's Words

Language Contact in the Age of Globalization

Bern, Berlin, Bruxelles, Frankfurt am Main, New York, Oxford, Wien, 2011. 334 pp., num. tablesLinguistic Insights. Studies in Language and Communication. Vol. 135Edited by Maurizio Gotti

Print: ISBN 978-3-0343-0673-7 pb.SFR 87.00 / €* 60.00 / €** 61.70 / € 56.10 / £ 50.50 / US$ 86.95

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Book synopsis

This book investigates lexical borrowing processes of our era in a sociolinguistic context. Innovatively, it seeks to examine language contact in acomprehensive way, taking into account socio- and psycholinguistic aspects as well as implications for language politics.As the sociolinguistic focus is primary, the volume also discusses how technology influences languages and to what extent it creates newconditions for language contact. As a result, it is proposed that the term language contact needs to be reevaluated, since the context ofglobalization has changed its very essence.As the increase in the importance of English has been the most significant global geolinguistic event in the past fifty years, the role of English asan international lingua franca in modern borrowing is analyzed in detail. Two case studies are also given, one on the role of English in the EUand another on the linguistic situation of multilingual Switzerland. The characteristic features of lexical borrowing are illustrated in a complex wayon linguistic material of a total of over 5000 recent loans in English, Spanish, German and Hungarian.

Contents

Contents: English as a global language/lingua franca - The presence of English in the world - The influence of English in various domains oflife - International English as a new variety - The linguistic situation of the European Union: international and intranational communication -Language contact - Societal bi- and multilingualism vs. diglossia - Phonological, grammatical, semantic, lexical transfer - The situation of Englishin multilingual Switzerland - Communication between the linguistic regions of Switzerland - The analysis of recent borrowings and transferstrategies in English, Spanish, German and Hungarian.

About the author(s)/editor(s)

Zsuzsa Hoffmann is a linguist and language teacher with an MA (English and German Linguistics and Literature, Hungarian Linguistics) anda PhD (English Linguistics) from the University of Debrecen, Hungary. Her research focuses on sociolinguistics and language contact, morespecifically, borrowing processes.

Zsuzsa Hoffmann

Ways of the World’s Words

T he aim of the present study is to investigate linguistic transfer, more specifically, lexical transfer from a sociolinguistic point of view. It is a rather novel approach to analyze transfer from the perspective

of language users and society, as all previous related theories belong to the framework of historical and contact linguistics, hence they concentrate less on the vital role of language use. In the present work, I seek an answer to the question concerning the role of English as a lingua franca in modern lexical transfer by investigating how it borrows and lends elements at the interna-tional level.

My starting point in treating the above issues is that individual languages exist as part of the global language system (de Swaan 2001: 1). This fact exerts a strong influence on the life of languages, on their system and on their change, and consequently, traditional types of language contact should also be rein-terpreted. Accordingly, one of the major theoretical goals of my work is to find an answer to the question whether earlier frameworks are still valid among the circumstances of the global language system. Thus, I need to uncover the weaknesses of these frameworks, which have sometimes become inappropri-ate within this new global linguistic situation. At the same time, however, I also attempt to emphasize their novel elements which still hold today. Thus, theoretical foundations on two wide topics seem to be necessary: on the one hand, I will be looking at the role of English in today’s global language system, and on the other hand, I will take into account theories of language contact, especially those concerning lexical borrowings.

The increase in the importance of English was probably the most signif-icant geolinguistic event of the 20th century and this tendency is still going on. In order to analyze the present situation of English in great depth, a model has to be found which can most adequately describe the present linguistic re-lations in the world. This, however, is a complex problem as it has both socio- and psycholinguistic aspects in the traditional sense, as well as implications for language policy in the wider sense, whereby the prestige factor must also be considered. The problem of the changing nature of prestige relations also raises the issue of applying a diachronic perspective, whether in analyzing the evolution of the present situation, or in trying to anticipate future prospects. The description of linguistic relations can by no means take place by simply delineating the taxonomy of the system, but this situation must be regarded in its functioning, constant change and dynamism. At the same time, the re-

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sponsibility for languages cannot be abandoned either (neither that of the av-erage language user, nor that of the linguist), for whether we are conscious of this fact or not, in the global language system all events in economy, culture and communication affect the global language system directly or indirectly.

An accurate linguistic snapshot of today’s world, with an emphasis on the role of global English, is presented by de Swaan (2001). His approach is utterly new in the sense that the concept of speakers’ linguistic interest is highlighted in an economic, sociological and political framework. His views and concep-tual base prove to be the most appropriate when looking into the role of Eng-lish in language contact situations, especially in international lexical trans-fer. This enables us to test the operability of de Swaan’s model on linguistic material.

In the present work I treat the latest theoretical frameworks concerning language contact with a highly critical and detailed approach, placing the phe-nomenon of lexical transfer in the foreground. My main goal in this respect is to rethink the general theoretical models of lexical transfer in a complex way and possibly develop them further. In particular, traditional theories re-gard transfer phenomena only from one particular aspect (one can find, for example, strictly language-based, sociolinguistic or psycholinguistic ap-proaches) and tend to neglect more complex relations between the individ-ual perspectives. In the present work, I seek to deal with these specific ap-proaches in a complex manner and thus to shed new light upon the concept of transfer as such, as well as upon its components. Nevertheless, I aim to em-phasize the sociolinguistic aspect more than other ones, and so I also have to take into account how the latest technological innovations have an influence on languages and to what extent they create new conditions for the function-ing of language, especially in the domain of language contact. From this it fol-lows that in the present situation, the term language contact needs to be re-interpreted and redefined from a linguistic point of view since the concept it-self has never existed in its global form before.

I am addressing the two overarching topics mentioned above – the role of English in the global language system and the question of language contact – not only from a theoretical point of view but also by presenting specific lan-guage constellations. This is why I am including two detailed case studies. In the first one, I seek to demonstrate what the role of the English language is in the European Union and what conflicts characterize the relationship between the individual languages of the European Union (EU). In the other case study, not entirely independent of the first one, I analyze the linguistic situation of multilingual Switzerland, for I argue that it can be considered a linguistic model of Europe from the point of view of language policy and geolinguistics. I am specially emphasizing the problem of how the appearance of Interna-

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tional English is changing a traditionally multilingual situation, character-ized by the side-by-side presence of diglossia and multilingualism.

The theoretical background described above is backed up by empirical studies as well, the aim of which is to show the characteristic features of lex-ical transfer observed on actual linguistic material in the last few decades. The emergence of a global language system goes together with the strengthening of interference processes between languages, which can be traced at various levels of linguistic description. Of these, mostly lexical processes are focused on, as the lexicon is the subsystem of language which can best demonstrate the changing nature of language contact (cf. Lanstyák 2006: 15). As several lan-guages and a group of lexical items as large as possible are to be included, only direct lexical borrowings are focused on, those being the core of lexical trans-fer. Apart from the major significance of direct loans, this choice is also justi-fied by the fact that it is in this area where the most reliable sources can be found.

I am investigating direct loans in four languages, placing English in the centre of my attention, since it has been examined in great depth both as a source and as a recipient language. Being on top of the global language hier-archy, English takes in a large number of lexical elements from a wide range of languages. At the same time, apart from native English elements, these newly acquired elements also make their way into other languages, which thus assign an important transmitting role to English at the international level. The other three languages analyzed are Spanish, which is also a globally important one; German, whose international role is somewhat on the decline, and Hungarian, which – apart from being my native language – is a medium-sized language in the world, completely different genetically and typologically from the other three.

In examining the 5,200 new borrowings, their source languages, their se-mantic and grammatical categorizations (the part of speech they belong to), as well as their degree of integration were taken into account. An accurate de-scription of these phenomena served only as a basis for analyzing the reasons behind these processes. This has been done in the hope that through a de-tailed study, we can develop new findings not only about lexical transfer but, based on general conclusions, the underlying theories can also be enriched.

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